Chemist Warehouse back-pays $3.5 million

Chemist Warehouse has been ordered to back-pay more than $3.5 million for mandatory online training its workers did in their own time.

Some 5976 employees, making up almost two-thirds of the retail pharmacy chain's workforce, have been paid back an average of about $600 for the training following an extensive Fair Work Ombudsman audit.

The audit uncovered that while Chemist Warehouse's head office had instructed the training be paid, many individual business owners did not comply.

In the wake of the audit, the pharmacy chain has agreed to implement numerous procedures including:

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"It's important that employers pay workers for all the hours they dedicate to their work," ombudsman Natalie James said in a statement on Thursday.

"If training is compulsory, then it is work.

"Young workers, in particular, are vulnerable to not realising this and giving their time for free."

FWO noted Chemist Warehouse rectified the problem quickly but warned that 'set and forget' instructions could become an issue.

"We are grateful that the FWO alerted us to the inadvertent underpayments within the individual businesses operating Chemist Warehouse stores and are proud of the swift action taken by them to rectify the issue," Chemist Warehouse Retail director Damien Gance said.